Washington, D.C. — Sophomore guard Desmond Claude led all scorers with a career-high 36 points as Xavier erased a 12-point halftime deficit to top Georgetown 98-93 at Capital One Arena Saturday evening.
Claude’s career night was aided by graduate guard and Big East leading scorer Quincy Olivari, who had 18 points for the Musketeers despite shooting just 2-12 from the field. The two guards combined to shoot 20-28 from the free throw line as the visitors attempted 46 free throws on the night. Freshman guard Rowan Brumbaugh paced the Hoyas with 24 points, while sophomore guard Jayden Epps had 20. Senior center Supreme Cook added a 15-point, 14-rebound double-double in the losing effort.
Foul trouble and poor defense sank the Hoyas on the night, as junior forward Dontrez Styles fouled out with 5:52 left in the game; and the visitors outscored Georgetown 23-14 from that point on. Freshman Drew Fielder fouled out as well in the final seconds, while Epps, Cook, and senior Jay Heath each recorded four fouls. All four of Cook’s fouls were recorded in the second half.
The game followed a similar script to the two teams’ first meeting this year in Cincinnati, with Georgetown opening up a sizable lead, only to lose out to a late Xavier push. Georgetown Head Coach Ed Cooley said of the collapse, “I’ve gotta do a better job with the group with respect to offsetting runs.”
Cooley was critical of his team’s showing, and said, “Totally disappointed on defense. Absolutely, horrific, horrific attention to detail in this game.”
Georgetown posted 49 points to Xavier’s 37 in the opening frame on 17-32 shooting, with Brumbaugh connecting for nine of the team’s first 14 points. Senior Jay Heath hit three triples in the first half, and the hosts held Xavier to just 37.9% from the field. The Hoyas led by double digits at 75-65 as late as the 8:16 mark of the second half, only for the Musketeers to steadily close the gap late. Xavier scored 61 points in the second half.
Xavier head coach Sean Miller spoke highly of Claude after the game, and said, “[Claude] was unstoppable, and he’s really playing a little bit banged up… he was terrific tonight.”
Claude was held out of multiple practices this week due to an ankle injury and said while his status for the game was up in the air, he didn’t feel hampered by his ankle on the court.
The win moves Xavier to 15-14 (9-9). The win helps the Musketeers keep pace in a crowded middle of the Big East standings, tied for the 6th best mark in the conference. With two games remaining, Xavier would currently be the #8 seed in the Big East Tournament. Georgetown falls to 9-20 (2-16), but still secured the #10 seed in the conference tournament on Saturday via DePaul’s home loss against Butler.
Cooley committed to continuing to improve as a tough first season at the helm nears its end, and said, “It’s not the first time we’ve lost a game in horrific fashion, so we’ve got to do a great job getting them ready to play on Tuesday.”
Next up for the Musketeers is another road test Wednesday at Butler in a battle of teams fighting to stay on the fringes of the NCAA Tournament bubble. Georgetown faces Providence Tuesday at Capital One Arena in its final home game of the campaign. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m.
